reftest

Primary sources are original accounts or records
of historical events. These sources are from the time period involved,
and they have not been filtered through interpretation. Primary
sources include:

Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews,
letters

Memoirs and autobiographies

Government records, such as birth,
death and marriage certificates, census records, licenses, patents,
trial transcripts, etc.

Records of organizations, i.e.,
minutes, reports or correspondence

Original Documents (e.g. family
Bible records)

Photographs, documentaries, sound recordings
of actual events

Survey Research such as market surveys
and public opinion polls

Note: Newspaper, magazine and journal articles
and books written at the time about a particular event are
often considered primary sources. These accounts were usually
written by journalists or other observers at the time of the event.
Materials that are written later and/or provide historical analysis
are considered secondary sources.

Finding Articles
To find articles on a specific topic, author or book, use
the DATABASES. You can access the LNDL databases from anywhere through the
LNDL homepage at http://www.loyola.edu. You must have a current library
barcode to access databases from off campus. Your barcode is on your ID. (It’s the
number that begins with 22425. . . .)

Books Available at the Library
Use the library catalog (SHARC) on the library's web site at http://www.loyola.edu/library.
Terms to try in looking for primary sources (use a subject
and/or keyword search):

Personal narratives
Diaries
Journal
Memoirs

Autobiography
Sources
History sources
History documents.

Some sources that include United States Documents
are:Annals of America
E173 .A793 v. 1-21Public Papers of the Presidents J80 .A283Historic Documents of Reference E839.5H57
1972-73;1975-2002

Web Sites
The Internet has become a great source of primary materials. Select a search engine or directory such as Google (www.google.com)
or Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) and
type in your topic and primary sources or one of the other
terms listed above.

Another great search directory is: Librarian's
Index to the Internet (www.lii.org).